Max Hesse becomes TCR’s youngest champion

Max Hesse has won the 2019 TCR Germany Touring Car Championship after a dramatic season finale at the Sachsenring, with the 18-year-old becoming the youngest driver to win a TCR series, and also the first German to win his home championship.

Hesse opened his championship account with pole position at the season opener at Oschersleben, back in April, but it was Finnish driver Antti Buri who was the runaway leader of the championship in the early part of the season, with the LMS Racing Audi driver winning the reversed grid race at the first three race meetings of the year.

Hesse’s season turned around a race later, scoring his first victory at Zandvoort in his Hyundai i30 N TCR, and then took maximum points in the first race at the Nurburgring, although he finished behind team-mate and guest driver Thierry Neuville on the road, and also was classed as the winner of the infamous second race of the weekend, which was hit by a dramatic rain storm just after it began.

The young German took another win last time out at Hockenheim, and while he had a quiet run in the first race at Sachsenring, he was on the pace when it mattered in today’s reversed grid second race, quickly up to third at the start before making a daring move to try and slice between the leading Hondas of René Münnich and Marcel Fugel.

Fugel however, despite lacking top speed in his older Civic FK2 TCR, defended the lead hard, with Fugel’s car effectively run by the Fugel-Halder partnership, with team-mate Mike Halder still in contention for the drivers’ title.

Hesse eventually made it past Fugel, and then pulled a safe gap on the field, with his championship rivals Harald Proczyk and Antti Buri making their way up to second and third.

A late safety car bunched the field up for one exciting one-lap sprint. Proczyk was too aggressive at the start and lost grip at Turn 1 in his Hyundai, allowing Buri straight past him, albeit with contact.

Buri’s car had far more pace than Hesse, and the two battled together over the last sequence of corners, with Buri taking the victory in a photo-finish against Hesse, which saw both drivers tied at the top of the standings.

Hesse was still going to win the championship, as both drivers would now be classed with four wins apiece (even though one of Hesse’s wins was technically behind Neuville’s car on the road), so on countback of the most second places, Hesse would win the title.

However, this would soon be academic as fast justice was dealt by the officials, with Buri given a one-second penalty for his contact with Proczyk at the start of the final lap, handing Hesse a fifth victory, elevating Proczyk to second, and dropping Buri to third, both in the race and also in the final championship standings.

Max Hesse becomes the first German to win the TCR Germany championship, after the first two seasons in 2016–2017 were won by the UK’s Josh Files, and Austrian driver Hari Proczyk won the 2018 title.

This is just great, absolutely wonderful,” said Hesse. “It was a mega difficult race — I was all the time hard on the tyres, and watching in my mirror what others are doing behind me.

“The team has a done a great job, we have worked really hard and have been rewarded with this championship. I’m proud to be the first German champion in ADAC TCR Germany — I’m so happy and hope it continues like this.”

2019 TCR Germany Touring Car Championship standings

1 . Max Hesse — Engstler Motorsport Hyundai i30 N TCR — 438 pts

2. Harald Proczyk — HP Racing International Hyundai i30 N TCR — 431

3. Antti Buri- LMS Racing Audi RS 3 LMS — 426

4. Mike Halder — Fugel Sport Honda Civic FK7 TCR — 399

5. Dominik Fugel — Fugel Sport Honda Civic FK7 TCR — 271

6. Theo Coicaud — Engstler Motorsport Hyundai i30 N TCR — 266

7. Michelle Halder — Team Halder Honda Civic FK7 TCR — 249

8. Julien Apothéloz— Topcar Sport Cupra TCR — 226.5

9. René Kircher — Racing One Audi RS 3 LMS — 214

10. Lukas Niedertscheider — HP Racing International Hyundai i30 N TCR — 202